


A Shan to Remember By

by BlindRider



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Choices, Dilemmas, F/M, Friendship, Recognization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21546709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlindRider/pseuds/BlindRider
Summary: Being a descendant of one of the great ancient Grand Masters comes with a lot pressure. One that a certain Garrick Shan has to deal with through the Clone Wars, all while being guided under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As darkness descends, the Force shows him multiple paths that he could take and claim as his destiny. The question remains, which side is he going to choose? OC by sketchywolf
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, OC & Aayla Secura, OC & Ahsoka Tano, OC & Anakin Skywalker, OC & Captain Rex, OC & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	1. Prologue: An Ancient Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> Before we get into this, I'd liked to extend a massive thank you to sketchywolf, who provided the OC in a request I didn't see coming, but he had such a vision on the OC that I simply couldn't refuse to write it out! Thank you, you absolutely epic human!
> 
> This chapter will serve as the prologue to this hopefully long story!
> 
> Set about a year before the events of the Clone Wars movie.
> 
> ENJOY!

_A Jedi enters battle calmly. Emotions such as fear and anger leads to the dark side._

The words of the ancient Grand Master Satele Shan, rang through his body and soul as the mantra that has been passed onto him from his mother. After millenniums passed from the time of the great Jedi, her descendancy has left a legacy that is to be revered.

Certainly, a legacy that elicited a unique kind of pressure for those who are among her descendants.

A pressure that one Garrick Shan has had to deal with, for most of his life.

This was all that was flowing through the troubled mind of the fourteen-year-old Jedi youngling.

Troubled, considering the predicament that he is in, having a high chance of missing out on the opportunity to become a Padawan, due to the fact that he is almost fifteen, where it would be all the more too late for him to be selected by the council.

Potentially becoming the first Shan in three thousand years, to not have been selected as a Padawan.

He had been meditating to prevent any more trouble from clouding his judgement, seeing as it was starting to take its toll on his temper.

Focus starting to ease in when a voice decided to interrupt his thoughts.

"Relax Rickster… there's no point in meditating if your mind isn't as calm as your physicality"

"Ahsoka" he tried to send an annoyed wave through the force, knowing that the thirteen-year-old is tapping into his own Force "I thought Master Yoda said to _not_ invade others space unless asked to"

A small giggle escaped the Togrutan's lip, prompting the other boy next to her to speak up.

"You know she can't help it Garrick. She can't beat you in a lightsaber duel so she used the safer method in the Force instead."

"Shut it, Caleb" was all she said while maintaining her meditating pose, prompting a snigger from the older teenager.

Silence then befell them once again. This time, with the residue of calmness slowly encompassing Garrick's mind.

Having two of his closest friends from his stint in the academy help him meditate really does quite a good change of atmosphere, especially since he had been pretty stubborn to agree to do so when they had practically begged him to join them.

"How's your session with Master Windu earlier?" the Togrutan had decided to speak up.

Garrick gave a bored sigh out of recollection of his training session "Boring, he made me do the whole rock into a basket routine again"

"That so? Did you do well?"

"Somewhat I guess" he gave her a nonchalant shrug "At least most of them actually got into the baskets for once"

"Hey… that's good then!" Ahsoka temporarily went out of her meditation stance to give her troubled friend a proud look "Means that you're getting a better hang of it"

A scoff was all he was able to let out "Says the one who already can levitate an entire wall"

"Well I'm not the one training Vapaad under Mace _kriffing_ Windu"

"Guys" the younger Jedi learner interjected "This is not doing well for my confidence"

"Relax Dume you still have a while to go"

"Doesn't make me feel any better"

Ahsoka breathed softly to bring the initial calmness back to group "With the way you're going now, you should be well on the way to becoming a good student Caleb. Have more faith in yourself"

Her sentence eventually stamped satisfaction to the ten-year-old, once again bringing silence to the meditation session.

That is, until Ahsoka audibly groaned, which Garrick immediately took notice in.

"What is it?"

"I sense a _di'kut_ incoming"

Albeit his current predicament is quite stressful, it wasn't however, the only thing that had been flaring his temper over the past few days.

"Hey there, Garrick _Shan_ "

All Garrick could procure was an annoyed sigh, not even bothering to open his eyes, remaining on his sitting position. He'd recognize that obnoxious voice anywhere.

"What do _you_ want, Sikaro?"

The voice in front of him snorted, further pushing his temper "It's Padawan Sikaro to you now"

Half-unbelieving, Garrick peeked through one eye, looking up to see that the boy had his Padawan braid brandished on the underside of his hair.

Ahsoka herself gave a quick peek towards the same area, before getting straight at the older boy.

"Congratulations to whoever got paid to bump you to the front of the pack"

The two boys beside her chuckled at her jab, but the standing boy was too far up his own behind to be offended by it.

"Whatever, _Tano_ " Ahsoka's features tightened at the tone he was using, already hating where it was going, "One day, you'd be among all the ladies that's pining to get into my-"

"Uugh… Never" she interjected before he could complete his words, and with a mild wave of her hand, pushed the standing boy a good few meters back and causing him to fall over, landing on his butt.

A few other younglings who were passing by saw the scene, and sent a few waves of chuckles as they went along their own way. Which wasn't taken kindly by the humiliated boy.

"You puny Togrutan… I'll show you" the sound of his lightsaber igniting brought the attention of the three meditating younglings right at him.

And even before the target of the threat was able to respond, another lightsaber had already lit up, which the new Padawan realized was Garrick's brilliant blue instead of Ahsoka's own green.

The boy almost flinched when he acknowledged the fearsome glare that the Shan descendant is currently firing at him, almost daring him to make a move.

Ahsoka only smirked, knowing full well that as stupid as the Sakiro boy could be, he won't be that dumb to challenge her friend with no preparation whatsoever.

As much as he doesn't want to admit it, even with the slight disadvantage in size, and the lower level of attunement with the Force, no one in the academy is anywhere near as proficient as the sitting boy when it comes to the multiple forms of lightsaber combat.

In a rare act of wisdom, the Padawan retracted his lightsaber. Snapping it back to his belt before crudely remarking "Think you're tough now huh Garrick? Whatever. Whenever you get too big for yourself, just remember who gave you that scar on your cheek! Taran Sakiro, Obi-Wan Kenobi's next big success after Anakin Skywalker!"

Feeling victorious nonetheless, the Padawan turned tail and went off to wherever it is that he had to go, not the other three cared.

Satisfied with the Padawan running off, Garrick retracted his own lightsaber moments later with a resigned sigh, prompting Caleb to comment on Taran's words.

"Don't think about it, Garrick. You know he cheated on that sparring session"

Yes, he knew that. The session was already declared over by the overseer, when that idiot decided to have another slash at his face. But it still annoys him to no end that he now has this x-shaped scar on his left cheek.

If only that boy's parents weren't big political partners for the Republic, he would've gotten sent off to Force knows where.

Instead of that, now the ungrateful bastard gets to study under one of Jedi's most reputable warrior.

Oh how great and fair life is.

He was still stuck in his own head when Ahsoka herself let out a resigned sigh.

"I feel bad for Master Kenobi, he's about to have his patience run straight to the limit with that unbearable thing following him around"

"Tell me 'bout it"

After a moment of contemplative silence, the booming voice of a temple guardian nearly toppled the three from their stances.

"Youngling Garrick, your presence has been requested by Master Shan"

Recovering from the small shock, Garrick gave a small eye roll to the other two, "Guess that's my call"

"Good luck Rickster"

He slipped a small smile in reply, before standing up and walking towards the direction of the Master's quarter.

A few minutes of walking and he eventually arrived at the door of the quarter. Giving it a soft knock, he heard a "come in" and proceeded to walk in, seeing the Jedi Master on her meditating position who immediately recognized his arrival.

"Ah good, you're here"

"You called for me, mother?"

Jedi Master Kali Shan has always appreciated the comfort that her son has with calling her mother in private, a development that she hadn't thought to be possible due to the circumstances that the Jedi Code have over the lives of both Force wielders.

"Let's take a walk, son"

Garrick gave her an inquisitive look, wondering what she has in plan for him. She would usually have barely any time to spend with him, not with the council having many duties to do, and with an impending war with the Sith looking like it's ready to explode. So, to see her take it slow is somewhat of an unexpected change to him.

Unexpected, yet definitely not unwelcomed.

Falling into step with his mother, they began walking accompanied by a peaceful yet tentative silence.

It continued for a while before Kali broke the silence.

"So, how has your training been recently? Master Windu said that you have improved your Force stability quite impressively"

"Really? Never really can tell if I'm doing well or not when he's teaching" Garrick made a face "He'd always look like he would rather be anywhere else in the galaxy when he's training any of us"

Kali gave a short chuckle to her son's comments "Trust me, he's not much different during council meetings"

The two shared a laugh, before turning back to silence, prompting Garrick to inquire of her intentions.

"Is that all you wanted ask? That's a bit little to ask about for a walk like this"

"Oh no, most definitely not" Kali seemed to be reviewing something in her mind, before looking for what she was searching for "Ah yes, I've been notified that a youngling in your group had been selected as a Padawan, was it Ahsoka?"

A fleeting thought of disappointment went through Garrick, knowing that as much as his mother loves him, his limited attunement in the Force really makes it a difficult barrier to overcome in terms of being selected as a Padawan. But he decided to let it pass and instead gave her a low scoff "Yeah, that would've made sense wouldn't it? But no, instead it's that Sakiro kid"

"Oh… no wonder Padawan Skywalker was laughing at his master earlier" Kali sighed in sympathy for her fellow council member "Hopefully it's nothing he can't handle"

"Trust me, mother" he shuddered in remembrance of the troublesome Sakiro "Master Kenobi is going to need everything he has to not chop that kid in half"

Kali smiled at his advice "I'll be sure to notify Master Kenobi of your suggestions Garrick" she noticed that they were approaching the door to their destination, before said door suddenly opened to reveal none other than Anakin Skywalker, who immediately took notice of the Jedi Master and her son.

"Master Shan" he gave a slight bow in respect to her presence, which she replied in kind.

"Padawan Skywalker" she nodded towards the room he just went out of "Did you get a good session in?"

"Sure did Master. I tried taking on two shooter bots just now, got stung once or twice. Guess I still need some work on my form" he then proceeds to turn his attention to Garrick, who had been silently admiring Obi-Wan Kenobi's famed Padawan, "You must be Garrick then? I've heard a lot about you from your mother. Impressive that for youngling to have already started learning Vapaad, I wondered why it wasn't you that they choose for Obi-Wan to take later on after I go"

Garrick was still half-frozen when his mother nudged him with a smile on her face. He immediately regained his senses "Oh it's nothing much, Padawan Skywalker"

The Padawan gave him a short chuckle "Hey don't sell yourself short buddy, it's rare to see Master Yoda and especially Master Windu to hold someone in such a regard, you should be proud" giving the youngling a pat on the shoulder, before turning back to the Master "I'd love to chat some more but Master Kenobi is currently expecting me in the hangar, another time Master Shan?"

"Another time Padawan Skywalker, send my regards to Master Kenobi" she replied accompanied with a nod.

"Will do Master Shan" the Padawan bows to signify his exit, and proceeds to send a wink to the youngling "See you around kid"

Garrick barely had time to process everything, but snapped back to focus "See you too Padawan Skywalker, and may the force be with you"

Anakin simply laughed "You too buddy" and proceeded to head towards his quarter, before Kali asked him one final question.

"Sorry Padawan, I forgot to ask, is Master Secura in there?"

Anakin looked back for a bit, before replying "Yeah she is, she was just finishing up on her session"

She gave him a nod, before he continued his walk and proceeded to look back to her son who looked a bit at awe.

"Quite a personality, isn't he?"

"Yeah, and tall too"

His comments elicited another chuckle as they went into the training room, almost instantly coming face-to-face with a beautiful Twi'lek, who took notice of Kali and Garrick, and went straight in to asking,

"Is that him?"

Garrick was slightly caught off guard with her straight forward attitude, but didn't mind it since his mother doesn't seem troubled whatsoever.

"Yes Aayla, this is my son, Garrick, the one we discussed about earlier"

_Discussed? Discussed on what?_ Was all that flew through Garrick's mind.

The Twi'lek seemed to nod in affirmation, and gestured the space behind her to Garrick, who's still finding himself a bit perplexed by the situation when she said,

"Alright then Garrick… the floor is yours"

Garrick only looked at her in confusion, noticing her arm that was presenting the training room behind her "Wait, pardon me Master, but what am I doing?"

She had a confused look on her face as well "Your mother did not tell you?"

The boy only shook his head, the two then averted their attention to the Jedi Master in question, who only had mischievous smirk gracing her features, bringing Garrick into realization.

"I knew it! There was more than just a simple walk wasn't it?"

Kali finally let her pent-up laughter in satisfaction, placing a hand on his shoulder "It was a good walk wasn't it? You'll like this, I promise you"

Taking his saber into hand, he grumbled annoyedly while walking past the amused Twi'lek, who walked up to stand next to Kali "Well this should be interesting"

"I don't approve of this… tricking your own son" he mumbled as he positions himself in the centre.

"Oh quit the yapping and trust your mother" she proceeded to nod towards the remote that the Twi'lek is holding "Feel free to start"

She nodded an affirmative and pressed a button that activated a nearby shooter bot, positioning itself adjacent to the youngling.

"Let's start with one first, when you're ready youngling"

Activating his saber, he got into focus and strengthened his stance. Caught a good grasp of what he needs to do, and stared the shooter bot dead on the centre.

"Ready"

With the press of a button, the bot began its round of steady shooting, all of which were blocked in quick succession.

He focused his vision and mind in predicting the bots shooting and swerving path, effectively positioning his saber after each shot, until the bot stopped shooting and stayed stationary.

"Good, now faster and harder"

Was all he heard before the bot seemed to reset and began shooting in a much faster pace, all while shooting in irregular patterns and swerving much more randomly.

All the while, the two bystanders watching were analysing his moves, with the Twi'lek initially commenting.

"He's good, consistent too. But if he's all that Windu has said about him then this should be a walk for him"

"Well" Kali nodded to the other Master "Feel free to challenge him as you see fit"

"Will definitely do"

Which eventually turned to an unexpected twist for Garrick, for when he's focusing on the one bot, it suddenly split itself and began to shoot even more rapidly from two opposing directions.

Quickly adjusting to the situation, he switched his stance sideways to provide better vision on both bots, using his body to evade some shots and deflecting the rest with ease.

The two masters watched in awe as the youngling held the effort for a few minutes, before realizing that both bots had entered a position that was basically in complete opposite to each other.

This forced the youngling to bide his time, continuing to dodge and block the bolts, before finally taking his chance by jumping out of the way, right when both bots take a shot, and ended up taking each other out, immediately putting the two machines out of commission.

Still breathing heavily and on his landing pose, he almost forgot that he had an audience, when a small round of applause erupted.

He looked back to see his mother and the Twi'lek, accompanied with a crowd of other training younglings and Padawans giving him a good hand after what was technically, something quite impressive for a youngling to be able to do.

Slightly embarrassed by the attention he garnered, all he could procure was an awkward bow, before seeing the crowd dismiss their selves, leaving only him and his original two bystanders.

"Impressively done Garrick. Even a Padawan with Skywalker's calibre was still slightly struggling with two bots, and you went by virtually unscathed" the Twi'lek had commended with sincerity.

Garrick couldn't help but felt pride swelling in his chest.

His mother was beaming, she held her smile for a few seconds before clearing her throat "So, Master Secura, final assessment?"

The Master in question looked at him with a certain shine in her eyes.

"Oh yes, he'd do exceptionally well as my Padawan"

Thinking that he had heard her sentences wrong, he almost choked on his own saliva "P-pardon me Master?"

Kali laughed once again, while the Twi'lek had a low chuckle "Forgive me Garrick, I haven't properly introduced myself"

She walked up to him, all while Garrick is still frozen in realization.

"My name is Aayla Secura, and I will be your new Master, Padawan Garrick Shan"


	2. An Ancient Premonition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand am back! This chapter took a bit longer cuz finals prep have been an absolute pain in the sheb :(
> 
> Hopefully I can go back to uploading faster in give or take a week, when all the stupid studying and exams are over and I'm set for the holidays :D
> 
> Anywho, this chapter features a time skip to almost about a year to the future, some week before the Clone Wars movie plot.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

Great darkness.

It was all that he can see through the surrounding woods.

Not that he had remembered what he’s doing or why is he even there in the first

place.

All he knows is that he’s absolutely alone.

No sight of any clones, no sight of his Master, and barely any sight of any living being.

“Hello!?” he echoed through the woods, further cementing his speculation of lonesome.

He sighed almost dejectedly, trudging through the lands without any general purpose.

The surroundings presented to him also created a tight atmosphere. Almost as if something is visibly straining a grip on his throat, a soft grip initially, yet growing noticeably restrictive as time goes by.

Not only was it tense, but certain points peculiarity can easily be seen. Like the fact that he is trudging through snow, yet his feet doesn’t show any semblance of feeling cold, or the other fact that he can see the fade of his breath smoking up through the cold, but he himself doesn’t generally feel any signs of being frostbitten or anything remotely similar.

It was as if someone had painted snow into his normal wooden surroundings.

An incandescent turmoil began to dangerously stir up within him. Feeling a strong mix of both light and dark pulling out of nowhere, tugging at the very deepened recesses of his heartstrings.

It was then that he noticed that there was an oddity from the gaps between the trees.

A black mass had gathered up right up ahead.

For whatever reason, he felt a highly malevolent force coming from said mass.

Yet, he felt a strange urge to let himself get sucked into the whirlpool of black.

Slowly and carefully stepping forward, he steeled himself, preparing for anything to jump out of it in any given moment.

However, he soon realized that the black mass had infested itself into a previously unseen corporeal body, that had its back turned against him.

Prompting the Padawan to halt his steps, resting a hand on his weapon, ready to defend himself should he be needed to.

“Hey!” he called out to the figure, who doesn’t seem to notice his call.

“Hello?” he bellowed out slightly volumized, thinking that the figure hadn’t heard him the first time around.

Suddenly, his entire body froze, seemingly all due to the fact that the figure had simply turned his head ever so slightly to his direction.

That was when he realized that the source of all the dark energy, the constrictive pressure, and all the confusion that he is in, was that figure.

Before he was able to utter any other word, the figure pulled an object, then a crimson light suddenly emitted from the object, with Garrick now realizing that it was a lightsaber.

Thinking it was a threat, the Padawan immediately pulled out his own blue saber, letting it illuminate as the two figures staved off each other.

He held his gaze right at the figure’s face, yet he couldn’t seem to accurately make out the features of the face, seeing as it was shrouded under the darkness of its hood.

“Why are you here?”

A voice echoed out of the figure, startling Garrick who steeled his stance and maintained his posture with his saber.

“Pretty straight forward considering you have no idea who I am”

The figure laughed a dark and echoing tone, lowering his saber but still emitting the menacing vibe that was pulsating off from his core.

“Oh I know who you are… The latest descendant of the Shan heritage, you are very different from your mother. Her weakness within her loyalty to the Jedi, so pathetic. No more than what your father had eventually become”

Garrick raised his saber to the insult, almost staggering with the figure mentioning his father.

Whom he never even met in real life.

He began switching to an aggressive form, ready to strike should the chance presented himself.

“You know nothing about her and the Jedi”

The figure chuckled darkly, also raising his saber, while seemingly bracing himself.

“We’ll just have to see… won’t we?”

As he uttered his last sentenced, the figure suddenly launched itself towards Garrick, who was nowhere near prepared to parry such a strike.

The last thing that he saw was the bright red saber about to strike him down, when he suddenly jerked up.

And awoke on his bed, heavy breathing being the only thing that he can hear.

_Nightmare_

He placed a hand over his face, trying to calm his breathing down.

It’s almost been a year since Aayla Secura had taken him under her wings, yet it’s been almost half a year since the nightmares had begun plaguing him.

“Maybe I should consult her later” muttering to himself as he heaved off the bed and went to the fresher, preparing himself for another day of training.

The rumours of a new war blowing up has started to really heat up over the past few months. And with the Geonosian’s rampant production of the battle droids, alongside the clones deployment in the recent battle of Geonosis due to the capture of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme. It seems like the clone wars has officially fired itself up with a blast.

Which now changed the regiments in which most Padawan’s are being trained to be more battle-oriented rather than trying to have them be more attuned with the Force, which Garrick didn’t really mind, but a part of him honestly felt like he’d need more of the Force training rather than constantly working on the three forms that he’s currently focusing on.

Finding his way towards the practice room, he entered in to see his Master already setup with multiple shooter bots, while also giving a go at it herself.

He watched closely as she glides through the training mat, carefully assessing the points in which the bots are shooting at her, all while still being aware of where she is in the room in order to maximize her freedom of movement.

As soon as she saw him however, she stopped the bots, wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, a small girn plastering her face.

“Garrick, you’re here. Ready for today’s training?”

“Always am Master” his smile fades as he continued his sentence “But I’ve got a few questions to ask after the session, if you have time?”

“Of course, Padawan” she smirked while activating two of the shooter bots “Only if you can do double speed though”

About an hour later, Aayla watches as her Padawan was packing up after a rather impressive form session. But she couldn’t help but notice the tense look that her Padawan has, looking as if he’s continuously contemplating something.

Sensing his troubled mind, she approached him with soft steps.

“That was impressive Garrick. A few more sessions with upper level techniques, and I’d say that you’re better than most of the Jedi Masters that I’ve worked with”

A chuckle went out of the boy, seeing his youthful eyes lit up back to how it usually is.

“Pretty sure I still have a few years left to get to that level”

“A little bit of confidence is fine from time to time my Padawan, just remember when it’s too much” the two finished up and walked in line out of the practice room, Aayla carefully eyeing her Padawan as he still looked troubled “So, you said you have questions?”

“Oh, y-yeah” Garrick looked almost distant, as if his mind was nowhere near his physical form “It’s probably not a big deal really Master… kind of a waste of time”

Aayla took note of his cautiousness and his audible hesitation, not wanting to let him back down from speaking on what is within his mind.

“Not at all Garrick. I am your Master, it is my job to guide you through any kind of issues that may or may not be troubling your mind. So, what is it about?”

“Well… I guess so” she gave him one more look of reassurance, urging the boy to continue his words, to which he did “It’s just… I’ve been having some sort of… troubling dreams?”

The Twi’lek quirked an eyebrow in response.

“Nightmares?”

“Well, sort of, but I guess not really?” he unconsciously tried to play it down as to not further alert his master to more of his troubles “It’s kind of ridiculous, I probably won’t be talking about it if it hadn’t been already happening for quite a while now”

“How long is “quite” a while?”

A hesitant glaze in his eyes warned Aayla to the possibility of her not liking his answer, and his answer just came to prove her right.

“Almost half a year now”

Okay, she hadn’t expected it to be _that_ long.

“Half a year Garrick!?”

The Padawan cringed, knowing that she would be unhappy with his answer.

“And you didn’t tell me beforehand due to...?”

“I wasn’t really sure whether it was necessary” he answered truthfully “But ever since it became eerily similar each time it happened, I decided to find some answers”

He observed her as she maintained her slight glare, before watching her sigh and has a different tone lacing her voice.

“Eerily similar you say, what exactly did you see in these nightmares?”

“It varies slightly from time to time, but the basic premise is always the same” he raised an uncomfortable hand to his elbow, calming himself while recalling the nightmares “A figure, all I sense from the figure is darkness and intense pressure. Weird thing is… the figure always knew who I was. Calling me as the latest descendant of the Shan family line”

A flash of surprise went by her eyes, now recognizing that his nightmares might be something more than just that, but she chose to keep her thoughts to herself.

“And it’s weird cause lately, the figure had been a bit more personal. Talking about my mother and all that, it even mentioned my father. Force I’ve never even met that coward”

Unbeknownst to him, Aayla herself seemed to be deep in her own thoughts, contemplating his statement while also giving nothing away to her Padawan.

Silence befell them as one tried to process the new information, while the other is simply contemplating on the enigmatic nature of his story.

Neither said anything before their destination came into view. Jedi Master Mace Windu was seemingly talking to a nearby group of Padawans, expression monotone and body language stiff.

“Great” Aayla’s attention immediately diverted towards Garrick, who looked a bit peeved “Master Windu’s using me as a show again”

After looking at the gathering crowd, Aayla gave a small chuckle, knowing full well how annoyed he gets when unwanted attention creeps around.

“Be proud Padawan, not many impresses him that often” they both halted to watch the crowd of younglings, before Aayla placed a hand on his shoulder “Just keep your focus on your training for now, I will discuss your recent turmoil with Master Yoda. He might have an answer to all this”

Garrick didn’t know what else to think of from his situation, then decided that he’d be none the wiser and let the grand master share his thought.

“Thanks Master, hope it’s not too much of a trouble”

“Not at all Garrick” she then gestured towards the occupied Jedi Master “In any case, Master Windu should be waiting for you”

Sparing a quick look towards the crowd, he sighed and gave a quick bow to her, which she replied kindly. She gave him a smile and watched as he went over towards WIndu and the younglings, before letting her features become ladened with seriousness.

Garrick on the other hand, simply walked right to the side of the Jedi Master, giving him a slight bow.

“Apologies to have kept you waiting Master”

“Padawan Garrick, you’ve arrived” the Jedi Master then gestured towards the group of enthusiastic youngling, all looking like they were waiting for a prize to be handed out “These younglings have taken a particular interest in understanding the things a Padawan as advanced as you would learn about in your early stages. They had stated their interest in watching your session today”

Before he was able to get any word in, a chorus of questions and statements of admiration immediately overflowed from the group of younglings, completely cutting off his sentence and not giving him an inch to talk back in.

He internally cringed and gave himself a mental encouragement, wishing he had decided to just extend his session with his Master rather than getting back to this personal torture.

However, in another part of the Temple, said master was having a tough time trying to process her student’s story.

She knew from his mother that there had been some events in the pass that had been related closely with the Shan bloodline, but she really had no more knowledge of it/

Turning the corner, she gave the door in front of her a quick knock before letting herself in, slowing her steps and bowed slowly to the person inside.

“Master Yoda, thank you for sparing your time”

The Grand Master still had his eyes closed, sat in a lotus position “Trouble you have, Master Secura?”

Taking a seat adjacent to him, she calmed herself as to not give off a more troubling feeling through the Force, then proceeded to explain the issues that had surfaced.

“It seems like your premonition was right Master, he’s already having the same visions as his mother once had, and for a much longer period now”

The news seemingly caught the meditating Jedi, who promptly opened his eyes, hazel connecting to his amber orbs.

Placing his hand on top of the other, he urged the Jedi in front of him to continue.

“It’s barely even a year Master, and I’ve taught him all that I have ever known when it comes to lightsaber combat” a thoughtful hand rested on her chin, careful picking her words out “I think that there is no longer any need for him to fully focus his training solely on that”

Master Yoda held his gaze for a heartbeat, his soft careening voice once again filling the room.

“To the next step, ready to proceed, Padawan Garrick is?”

Aayla steeled her features, confidence surging on her believe towards her Padawan “More than ready Master, but he will need a better guide in the Force, as much as I am a Jedi Master, I’m no more attuned with it compared to some other Masters”

“Discredit yourself, you may not” the wise Master said, almost as if he was lecturing her “A great Padawan, Garrick has become. On the right path, thanks to you, his mind is”

A smile crept onto the Twi’lek’s face, grateful for the words that he had said for her.

“That being said Master, I do have a Jedi in mind. If you would let me handle Garrick’s transfer? I’d be happy oversee his process and make sure that all is right with his new teacher”

Yoda gave almost no thought to that “Oversee his transfer, you most definitely should” gesturing to her in reassurance “Strong in the path of light, he is. Result, not for you to worry, it is”

“I can only hope that the Force will’s him good Master”

With that, she bowed and excused herself out of the room, with Yoda looking wistfully at the shutting door, before turning his attention towards the windows.

“Fall like the other, he should not, Master Secura”


	3. A New Horizon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK!
> 
> You know that feeling when you just wanna throw your internet out of a window?
> 
> That's how I've been feeling like this past two weeks, since my internet decided to NOT work for whatever reason.
> 
> Well in any case, I do not nag for the entirety of this note, so you all can go ahead and read this setup that I've made :D
> 
> ENJOY! And of course, any kind of feedback is appreciated :)

“A little to the left”

“How’s that?”

“No no… _my_ left”

“How am I supposed to know which one _your_ left is?”

“Right right, I forgot. A little to your right then big boy”

“That far?”

“Getting there… just a little bit more”

“Here?”

“Perfect! Feel free to drop it anytime”

Garrick waited for the satisfying sound of stones dropping into a basket, but all that ended up happening was multitudes of stones peppering his head in a short burst, before a guffawing laughter began emitting from the girl directing him.

“HAHA! Got ya good didn’t I Rickster?”

Taking his blindfold off with little respite, he looked around the courtyard and gave the Togrutan a slight glare. Stuck between being irritated or amused.

“With that mentality, you know that it’ll take a lot more time for you to be chosen as a Padawan?”

“Please…” Ahsoka guided some of the rocks back into the basket in between her sentences, “I’ll probably still have a year in this place”

She walked over to the musing Shan, suddenly poking him in the chest.

“ _You_ , however, will be sent off to Force knows where, fighting off with your apparent new master”

Her statement sent Garrick’s memories of the past few days to flash by, stemming all the way to the day Aayla had told him that she will be transferring his tutelage under a new master.

It had been a morning like any other, except for its next few hours.

_“Garrick, I have something to tell you”_

_He looked up to her, not knowing what kind of news to expect. Had he done something bad? Did Master Windu finally got ticked off by something he did during Vapaad?_

_“What is it Master?”_

_A sad, and somewhat regretful chuckle escaped her lips, but she knew within her mind that there is a good reason for her doing this, one that can possibly help turn the tide of the war, and history in its entirety. She gathered her courage and put up her voice in attempts of hiding any quiver in her tone._

_“This will be the last few days where you will be referring to me as your Master”_

_Garrick couldn’t help but slightly stagger back. Surely he wasn’t being put forward for trial already? He felt nowhere near ready enough, who agreed on this?_

_“Due to the fact that your Padawan training will be transferred to someone else”_

_He felt his surprised soul return to his physical body, a bit of relief settling, yet at the same time, a humongous amount of questions began to swarm his mind, and those questions must’ve plastered itself on his expressions, because Aayla immediately jumped in._

_“Now I know that you have a lot of questions…” she moved to place both her hands on his shoulders, making sure that he listens intently “But this is done because it is time for you to move forward, reach into the next phase of your training that I, unfortunately, won’t be able to guide you effectively through”_

_Doubt creeped into his mind; he knew that there is more behind the reason for his transfer. But knowing that this is probably as hard for her to do, as it is for him to understand, he decided to keep quiet._

And from there on, all he’s been waiting for is the unveiling of this new Master of his. Aayla had been pretty cryptic about it, but he at least knew that this new master of his would be a guy, judging by her extremely short description of him.

_“He’s a highly experienced General with an even higher aptitude with the Force. He’ll be able to show you parts of it that I would be able to barely scratch the surface of. I’d even go as far as saying that you’ll fit better with him”_

In his mind, with no offense to whoever it is that she’s referring to, he highly doubted that there’ll be anyone else who he’d see better fit to be his teacher. But then again as she always said, the Force has its mysterious ways.

His thoughts were eventually interrupted with a frantic hand waving right past his face, immediately snapping him back to attention.

“Hmm?”

“I was saying, have any idea on who your new master is gonna be?” Ahsoka looked at him worryingly, noticing how off put he is by the current situation, he didn’t even realize that she’d placed her hand on his shoulder “You looked like you were miles away just now, you okay?”

Clearing his head, he shook it firmly for a few moments before refocusing his gaze to the worried Torgutan.

“Yeah, no… I’m fine”

Just by looking at her expression, he knew that she didn’t believed him.

“Trust me, I am!”

Ahsoka kept her judgmental glare on him, “You do know that I can _really_ tell when you’re lying”

Yeah.

He knows that there’s no going around her.

“I know you do, but in all honesty, I don’t even know whether I’m telling the truth or not, it’s all been happening way too quickly for me”

Her glare immediately softened into an empathic look. She knew how long he had wanted to become a Padawan, and now that he has finally achieved that, things never seemed to be slowing down for him. The past year in itself is already a massive example. She knew about his nightmares, she had been the first one, and for a long time, the only one who had known about it. Eventually, she managed to coerce him into telling his Master about it, and now he’s being transferred to some other master whom he has no clue on who this character is.

She had tried to place herself in his shoes, only to find herself being daunted by the mere thought of those situation, let alone actually experiencing them in reality.

Never had she had more reasons to worry about her long-time friend.

“Look, I’m sure it’ll be fine” forcing him to direct his lost attention right at her “Besides, knowing Aayla, she wouldn’t leave you without making sure that she handed you to someone who’s worthy of teaching you”

He gave a smile to that thought. At the very least, he knew that Aayla wouldn’t disappoint him with her choices, nor would her ever dreamed of disappointing her with how he’s about to go with it.

“I know that…” he gave her a small, but genuine smile, which brought her face up “Thanks ‘Soka”

Smiling back, she nodded with relief “Anytime. I just don’t want you leaving here with such a downtrodden look”

A dry chuckle sounded from the two of the one, before letting silence settle comfortably between them.

Which didn’t last too long, with Aayla herself appearing into courtyard. The opening door attracted to two teenager’s attention.

“It’s time, Garrick”

“Welp” the two looked at each other again “Seems like it’s time to go”

“Stay safe” she put her hands together in signal to greet him goodbye “Don’t get yourself killed before I catch up to you”

Bowing down, he replied with the same gesture “I’m sure I can last that long”

She watched as he gave her a smile and began walking over to his about-to-be former master, who also gave her a reassuring smile, alongside a nod. Which managed to calm her down, even for a small amount.

Deep down, Aayla herself shared the same worries as Ahsoka. Even though she trusts his new Master with her life, it’s more towards the bigger picture that she’s worried about.

She waited until he fell in line with him, before asking, “You’re ready?”

“I think so, probably not though. But hey, whatever goes”

Aayla rolls her eyes and laughs, “That reminds me, I forgot to warn him about your occasional sarcastic behavior”

He eyed her challengingly, “Would he feel challenged by it?”

“I wouldn’t think so. In fact, I’d say that you’d finally meet a worthy opponent to trade words with”

_Hmm_ … that peaked his interests slightly. Someone who can handle his sass? Mark him down for it.

As they continued walking, he recognized the figure of his mother walking out of another room, her expressions showing a bit of relief and knowing once she’s spotted them and they began walking towards her.

“Good to know that I made it on time, that means I won. Correct Aayla?”

Garrick looked at the Twi’lek who had both an amused and slightly irritated expression.

“You’ll get your credits after we take care of your son’s business Kali”

“Wait, hold up” the boy in question looked at his two seniors “You guys placed a bet on me?”

Kali chuckled at his bewilderment “Not at all son. More like a bet towards your mother here, who Aayla thought would be late to see your transfer happen”

“Oooh” fair enough he thought, due to the fact that if there’s one thing that he’s glad of not inheriting from his mother is her tardiness habit. Since his mother is infamously known to always be late to briefings and whatever council meetings that she has to attend to.

“All things aside” his mother chimed in, changing her tone “You’re all set Garrick?”

His answer was interjected by Aayla, who knew that he was about to keep his sass on.

“I’ll spare you his _attitude_ and say that we’re all set Master Shan”

He playfully elbowed her, to which she replied with a quick slap to the head. The older Shan simply shakes her head in amusement, wondering on just how the two even make a year without arguing more than they usually do.

The two began following her through the temple, before Garrick decided that he’ll try to uncover some more information about who his new master could possibly be.

“So… about this new master of mine, mother. Master Secura had been really vague about who this guy is”

His statement caused his mother to give an inquisitive look towards Aayla, who gave her a sharp stare in reply, before ensuring that Kali understands her intentions of keeping it a surprise for her son.

“Don’t even try my boy, you won’t get much out of me either”

An undignified huff escaped the young Shan’s lips, pulling out a mock-pouting expression. As much as he wanted to feel annoyed, he felt his curiosity peaked rather more than he is being anywhere near slightly irritated.

He was close to inquiring once again before his mother turned a sharp left and went out to one of the temple’s many gardens, prompting him and Aayla to follow suit. As the doors opened out into the open yard, his vision became flooded with the light of the sun, before having focus enough just to be able to see the figure that’s standing in the center square of the garden.

It was none other than Anakin Skywalker.

Whom he had definitely _not_ expected to see that day.

Word has gone around that the newly knighted Jedi had been an extremely hot topic around the Coruscant gossip line. The fact that he had been knighted, then promoted to General of the Republic Army, and had undergone a great operation in Arantara, many people can’t seem to shut their trap about the young Jedi.

Some of the rumors he had heard even consisted of him managing to score a Nabooian senator and had allegedly gotten married.

But even he knew to not believe such ridiculous rumors.

Noticing their approach, the Jedi turned towards the three of them, immediately bowing and greeting them.

“Master Shan, Master Secura,” he initially greeted, before turning towards him with a grin “We meet again kid”

“Knight Skywalker” he greeted with a bow “Or should I say General Skywalker now?”

The brunette raised his eyebrows, looking slightly surprised at how fast news had gone around from the frontlines to the Temple. He’d figured that it’ll take another week or two for the news to fully reach the entirety of the Temple.

“Word goes around quick around here doesn’t it?”

“Sure does. Lucky for you, I’ve filtered out the rather unpleasant ones”

“Thank you for your sacrifice” the cheeky Skywalker remarked, flashing him a somewhat mischievous grin “Seems like a good kind of sacrifice that the frontline would soon need from a Jedi Commander”

His statement prompted Garrick’s brain to go to overdrive. Immediately putting two and two together.

“Wait a minute… does that mean…”

Sharply turning to Aayla, he pointed straight at the Jedi Knight.

“He’s my new master?”

Aayla and Kali’s expression went from surprised, to amusement, and to laughter in a matter of seconds. Pretty soon, the Skywalker in question began following in with the laughter. Indicating the farfetched assumptions to just be that.

“Got it wrong kid” Anakin replied after gathering himself together “I’m only here to see how this all is going to pan out with your new master”

“Speaking of which” Aayla interjected, looking at the sun high in the sky “Where is he? It is somewhat unlikely for him to be late. I would’ve expected you to be late Skywalker, not him”

Anakin himself took no offense “I know right? Even I surprised myself-“

“Hold up hold up” the curious Shan decided to butt in, clearly the only one being out of the loop. “Who are we talking about here?”

Anakin looks like he was about to reply, but got stopped by a nearby door opening, noticed the person, and shot a sly grin towards the awaiting young Padawan.

“Why don’t you find out yourself?”

Garrick looked over to the approaching figure, then proceeded to be rooted to his spot as the man bounded towards them as he observes the surrounding weather and environment.

“What a rather fine afternoon that we have here people?”

Anakin let out a scoff, all while Garrick still remain rooted to his spot.

“You’re late, Obi-wan”


	4. A Change of Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrick got himself a little bit of an enlightening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well dang, it's been a while. See what I did there? Hehehe
> 
> Anywho, corona successfully separated from my files, and I had to rewrite most of what I had :P but here's a version that I finally felt satisfied to a degree, in publishing xD
> 
> Once again, apologies for any mistakes or inconsistencies, I am only human.
> 
> All except OC as mentioned is owned by Disney (I think?) I'm just a writer who just wants more clone wars :D
> 
> ENJOY!

"Apologies" the Jedi Master had said with a seemingly forced levity, "I had to stay back and clean up _someones's_ mess earlier"

Anyone who knows Obi-Wan Kenobi's record, which really encompasses everyone, will immediately be able to tell who he is referring to when he says "someone" with that kind of tone.

That and the fact that he's giving Anakin Skywalker one rather sharp glare.

"What? You said you could handle it"

"Anakin, I said _you_ should handle it. But you were more interested in backflipping off of a cliff, right into a gunship, and give Cody the scare of his life"

Anakin only laughed at his statement, crossing his arms with a smirk lacing his lips.

"Rex didn't even flinch, not even in the slightest. That just shows that I got a better second-in-command than you do, am I right?"

Obi-wan looked nowhere near impressed, and simply rolled his eyes in reaction to Anakin's words.

All the while, Garrick is just standing there completely gobsmacked. Obi-Wan is one of the Jedi's that he had dreamt of studying under. Many stories revered him as the man who always prefers to use his words than his weapon but is ever so graceful in using his weapon should the situation requires it. Garrick couldn't help but just have a tint of curiosity regarding the man they call as the Negotiator.

And now, seeing him completely being annoyed at his former Padawan, he just couldn't help but be amused. The man looked just like a father getting annoyed at a reckless son.

But then again, he was brought to the reality of the fact that said Jedi Master already has a Padawan.

Taran Sakiro.

Oh how he sometimes wishes that the spoiled kid hadn't existed in the first place. In some parts of him, Garrick couldn't help but wonder on how the wise Jedi had been dealing with the punk's behavior.

His thoughts were then cut short with Obi-wan's voice booming through.

"In any case," he turned his attention to the other three people who had been watching their interaction in amusement. "Please excuse my former Padawan's… exuberance. The reputation that might've preceded him is one of recklessness and of absolutely short-sighted strategies, if words were to be kinder that is"

Unable to hold his snigger, Garrick had to let one out knowing about all the rumors that has been surrounding the reputation of the young General on his short-yet already eventful period as one. The snigger ended up earning him a mock glare from the General in question.

"Zip it kid, I thought you were on my side"

"Your side? You'd do well to _keep_ me on your side, General"

"Sides? Why are we talking about sides here?" Obi-wan interjected.

"It's nothing Master."

"I sacrificed my sanity to absorb all gossips pertaining to General Skywalker, so that he doesn't have to lose his"

Their back and forth conversation promptly took Obi-Wan's attention, initially having confusion laced on his features, before swiftly having it change to a sly smirk towards his former Padawan, who knew all too well what that smirk had meant.

"Obi-Wan, don't you dare…"

"How can I not? You may no longer be my Padawan, but I'd be hard-pressed to find myself to be out of the loop regarding on what the people have been talking about you"

Anakin was reaching to stop him, but Obi-Wan had placed himself next to Garrick with a hand on his shoulder, looking as if he was ready to usher the young Shan elsewhere.

"Excuse us Master Shan and Master Secura, but me and the young man here have much to discuss."

The two masters only looked at each other with neutral expressions and simply shrugged their shoulders at each other. Both more interested in the Skywalker's meager attempts to stop his former Master from getting away.

"Master…"

"Oh, and I'm sure that you two can keep my former Padawan here busy for the following period of the day, yes?"

"Well of course…" Aayla pulled the scurrying Knight back to her side, "There are much to discuss regarding your previous breach in Arantara, I trust that you have time"

Anakin was ready to argue, but Kali decided to step in for good measure.

"And… I have news about your next deployment" she stepped right in between the two men, "Master Yoda had asked me to pass it on to you, I'm sure it'll take a few hours, so we best get settled somewhere… comfortable."

Obi-wan simply gave the disgruntled young man a wave and guided Garrick away to a nearby door.

"Whatever." Anakin muttered, and then, he began bellowing out, "Best of luck Obi-wan! That kid and I are tight, so you won't get him to budge at all!"

* * *

"So that's the rumor of Anakin Skywalker being a rowdy teenager who actually doesn't know how to talk with any of the ladies and have to constantly have his master bail him out of social situation."

In all fairness, Garrick really tried to not rat out the younger General to his former master like he is doing right now, but when said master is bribing yours truly with food from Dex's Diner, then he really can't be faulted for eventually crumbling.

"Hmm… fascinating." Obi-wan held a sly smirk, entertained by all this new information that he'd be able to use to peg his former Padawan, "Fair enough to those in the mill, call me impressed."

Garrick looked up with his mouth half-full, "Yeah, in all fairness to those gossipers, they have quite an ear when it comes to digging up information" he took a little pause to swallow the rest of his food, "Even though most of it would end up being absolute garbage underworld talks."

Obi-wan gave a small smile of amusement on his remarks.

"Honestly, they'd make a killing if they were to be investigators or something. At least do something useful with the information that they want to dig out. Rather than just leaving it out to rot in the mouths of people who don't know any better."

"Unlike the food that you are having I presume; how do you like your meals gentleman?"

The two Jedi smiled at the welcoming voice of Dexter Jettster, who had decided to check on his two regulars.

"Exquisite as always Dexter." Obi-wan replied to the jolly Besalisk, "I take it that business has been bustling as usual?"

'More than you know it Kenobi!" Dex replied with enthusiasm, then gesturing towards Garrick, "So much so that I hadn't noticed that one of my loyal regulars haven't been here in a while."

"Haha, missed you too Dex."

"At least your honest kid. Where's your mother? Usually she'd be around to make sure that you ain't stuffin' your face silly"

"Very funny." He said while poking Dex in the stomach, "For your information, I only eat a lot because mother always ordered too much, so I clean up after her."

Dex laughed at his reply, playfully punching the boy on the shoulder, "Sure sure… whatever you say big guy."

"You're one to talk."

Obi-wan could only let his amusement grow even further.

"I see that you two are well-acquainted?"

"What, me and this guy?" Dex made a move before Garrick could react, grabbing the boy's head and putting it in a headlock, "Known him since he's a little twit. Always raving about how one day he'd become some big shot Padawan or something"

Garrick could only groan in exasperation as Dex began giving him a noogie, while Dex kept his attention on Obi-Wan.

"And since you're here with him, I reckon that he finally got a shot at it huh? Better choice considering your previous little boy. I had to use everything in me to keep myself from ripping his head off."

"Well that's-"

A loud crash and a yelp interrupted Obi-Wan's reply, prompting the three to turn their heads towards the commotion. They saw Flo, the waitress, on the ground while a Weequayian made a run for the door.

"He hasn't paid for his bill!"

Dex didn't seem to flinch, and simply muttered.

"Kid-"

"On it."

And to Obi-Wan's surprise, the young Shan vaulted over his seat and started to make chase on the escaping customer.

He didn't fail to notice the grin that Dex has, as if the Besalisk had seemed to be quite fond of the unraveling events.

"Does… _this_ happen often?"

"Eh, more or less." They paused a bit at the sound of grunts and crashing coming from just outside, "But the kid's got it all under control Kenobi. His mother used to go nuts when he started chasing after them on his own. But ever since he's grown, she didn't really see any point in try'na stop him, since he gets it done anyway."

A faint "Hey, get off of me!" Can be heard following the noises of the ruckus before Obi-Wan sighed and stood from his seat.

"Well then, shall we go assist my new Padawan?"

Dex broke into a grin before making way for Obi-Wan to lead the way.

They'd discover however, that the perp didn't that far away, as just a barely tens of meters away from the Diner, there's a small crowd gathering while the aforementioned boy has the Weequay man pinned down and with both his hands behind his back.

The two made way towards the crowd when the shouts of the man began to sound out.

"I'll mess you up kid, I guarantee you that!"

"Whatever you say pal… I'm not the one currently on the ground with no means of escape."

"I got this kid…" Dex made his way to the fallen criminal and lifted the man off the hinges of his shirt, "I know you! You're the one who's been pulling this stunt in just about every diner you went to, huh?"

The Weequayian merely scoffed, "Yeah and it would've been another easy rinse if you didn't have your little pet over there."

"Watch it, I bite." Garrick feigned a move towards his lightsaber, bolstering his threat.

'Eugh, _Jedi_ " The man practically spat the word, and then eventually noticed the approaching bearded man, "Oh I know you! You're that… Kohobi… or Ketobi guy, whatever your name is."

Obi-Wan took a step closer, as if inspecting something, before recoiling back, smelling the alcohol in his breath, "Goodness, he's out of sorts as well."

"That he is, Kenobi" Dex's gruff voice cuts in, "I'll handle him from here. You two have a lot of talkin' to get to."

Forgetting about their meal, Obi-Wan asked, "What about our food, we have not paid"

"It's on the house!" Gesturing towards Garrick, "Consider it a welcome back meal to one of my most loyal customer."

"You're the best Dex."

"Hah, don't push it kiddo! Go and have a chat with your new master over there."

Dex then left them to their own devices, with Obi-Wan sending a smirk towards Garrick, the same he had done towards Anakin.

Garrick could only stare in confusion.

"My what now?"

* * *

Obi-Wan could only wonder for the extend of next tens of minutes as they began to walk back towards the temple in a confusion-infused silence, sparing a glance towards the young Shan who constantly has his eyebrows crunched together, as if in a constant state of thinking.

It carried for a little more before Garrick cracked.

"So…"

Obi-Wan glanced at his new Padawan in anticipation.

"You're my new master?"

"Well, have you ever taken Dexter for a liar?"

"True he's an honest being."

Silence then fell over them once again. Having their atmosphere completely contrasting the bustling streets of the busy Coruscant commute.

"But, I don't get it…" Garrick spoke up once again, finally giving the eye contact that Obi-Wan has been trying initiate, "I didn't know that a Jedi Master can take more than one Padawan in one go."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow to that statement, "Taking more than one Padawan?"

"Yeah, don't you already have Taran Sakiro?"

"Ah… I see where your apparent confusion comes from."

They kept walking, Garrick recognizing that Obi-Wan had almost dodged the question.

"Well? That wasn't much of an answer from the so-called negotiator."

"It's a fairly time-consuming matter to discuss."

"The temple's still quite a walk away," Obi-Wan looked at the temple on the far horizon of where they are, silently cursing at his new Padawan's observation, "Pretty sure you can wrap it up before we get to the stairs."

Finally taking his words into consideration, Obi-Wan stopped momentarily to give the boy an amused glance, which was promptly replied with a similar gesture in a form of shrug.

"Fair enough, Aayla did warn me about your… forthrightness."

He saw him grin, "Likewise."

A raised eyebrow expressed Obi-Wan's momentary confusion before he decided to relent and breathed out an astounded sigh.

"Padawan Sakiro… is quite, well, _was_ , quite a handful."

The emphasis on "was" brought Garrick to immediately think of the worst use of that word, "Whoa, it's only been a week into this war and he's dead already?"

"Dead?" Obi-Wan gave a stunned reply, before realizing how his words had sounded like, "Oh, forgive my poor choice of vocabulary, he's very much alive and kicking."

"Oh." The older Jedi had been sure that he noticed a small, yet genuine, tone of disappointment was evident in his short reaction, but hearing the joking "Way to get my hopes up." Gave Obi-Wan assurance that the Shan didn't exactly have great opinions of his former Padawan.

"Not too fond of him I gather?"

"To put it lightly yeah." Garrick replied, annoyance surfacing in his tone, "Pain in the ass for me and a few others over the years. Was both kinda glad and feeling sorry when he finally went out of the academy."

"How so?"

"Well, glad cause he's no longer going to bother my group." He proceeded to glance at Obi-Wan, "Feeling sorry for you, Knight Skywalker, or anyone really, that will now have to deal with him. At least I had the skills and experience to shut him up, now he's going to have a whole new batch of people to annoy."

"Skills hmm?" Obi-Wan murmured, "Mind enlightening me? Maybe I can pass it on to whoever eventually takes over his apprenticeship."

"Having trained Vapaad can help."

Obi-Wan chuckled at his reply, "Sounds like it would, although I highly recommend advices that wouldn't require years of preliminary training, just so others can keep up."

It was Garrick's turn to muse at his comment.

"That and as much I am a stickler for formalities…" Obi-Wan looked at him with exasperated eyes, "I would appreciate it if you refrain from calling Anakin "Knight Skywalker" if we are alone in conversation. He brags about it enough, I'd rather not have a constant reminder of it, not if I can help it."

"Huh. Alright then, I'll make sure to come up with a nickname for him."

With a nod from his master, Garrick came back to thinking about another advice, before simply settling on being frank.

"Then I'd suggest getting some friends who actually has a brain."

"Ah, and those are in short supply these days, aren't they?"

"Tell me about it." Garrick smirked at his comment, "From what I've gathered, it seems to be such a scarce commodity these days."

The two shared a laugh over the statement, before continuing their walk in a comfortable silence. With the temple slowly closing in the distance, Obi-Wan reminded himself of his other personal mission.

"That being said, I do have a few inquiries to make, if you don't mind answering that is."

Thinking about what the Jedi Master could be curious about, Garrick didn't really bother to think about it.

"Shoot away I guess."

"I've heard that your batch in the academy holds some particularly… interesting individuals. Yourself included, that is." Obi-Wan made a point to gesture at him, before continuing, "Master Shan had always informed me so, yet she has not gone into details of the individuals themselves. In any case, I was wondering if you'd be able to suggest some for my personal knowledge?"

An amused eyebrow shot up in Garrick's features, "Well damn, already looking to substitute me?"

"Not at all. All things considered; this has been a rather pleasant evening." Obi-Wan shot a quick smile to his Padawan, "Other masters are looking into the academy to begin training more younglings themselves, but with the war imminent, they have not been able to find time to observe the younglings thoroughly, and has begun asking others to provide as much essential information as possible."

"I see… good to know that I'm not boring you."

"With the way I see this going, I might have to _ask_ you to bore me in the future."

"I make no promises, Master Kenobi."

"I'd gathered as much."

They stopped for a bit to let a cleaning droid pass through, before continuing their conversation.

"Pretty sure mother would've mentioned her, but if you're looking for my suggestions, I'd recommend Ahsoka Tano."

"Youngling Tano?" Obi-Wan asked, "The Togrutan?"

"Mhm."

"I see… Master Koon always has something to say about her, and Master Yoda himself has been monitoring her developments for the past few months."

"For good reasons I can tell you." Garrick stated out, looking wistfully towards the ever-approaching temple. "Miles ahead of me in terms of Force aptitude, got saber skills to back it up as well."

"I take it that she's one of this "friends with brains" folk you were referring to?"

"Yep, that's the one." A reminiscing look goes through the boy's features, "Had the most brains out of the group actually, so you wouldn't have to worry about her doing anything stupid." He'd silenced himself for a beat, before continuing, "Scratch that, she might do something stupid on occasions, but that's not exactly her main pull."

"Oh? And pray tell, what is her pull?"

Garrick had to let his brain arrange his sentences for a little while, before replying, "She's not one to just let others walk over one another. More often than not, she'd make sure that she won't rest until both sides of the party respects one another, she dislikes baseless hatred."

"Hmm… duly noted." Obi-Wan seemingly smiled to himself, as if drowning in his own thoughts, "I'll make sure to pass that on to any interested party."

Satisfied with his answer, Garrick sighed in relief to himself. His thought briefly flew to his Togrutan best friend, least he can do for her is help recommend her apprenticeship to a Master or a Knights, just so she can get out of that academy a hell lot quicker.

Not long after, they had reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the temple, pausing slightly to take in their progress for the day.

"If this is a preview of our next years to come, then I'm sure you and I would get along just fine, my young Padawan."

Garrick let himself pull out a genuine smile hearing that.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's Padawan, he could get used to it.

He was about to reply when Obi-Wan's holopad suddenly beeps out. Promptly causing the Jedi Master to grab it and turns it on, only to have project an image of one Anakin Skywalker.

"Obi-Wan, we got- Oh, hey kid, I supposed the notice is out then yeah?"

A sigh emitted from Obi-Wan, "Yes Anakin, he has been informed, what do you need?"

"Congrats kid, looking forward to working with ya." Anakin gave a two-fingered salute, which Garrick replied in similar fashion, before Anakin turned his attention back to Obi-Wan himself, "Good timing as ever Master, he's gonna need the experience from this mission."

Before Obi-Wan could reply, Garick had cut in, "We have a mission already?"

"Yep."

"Where exactly is this mission Anakin?" Obi-Wan replied, Garrick noticing his lack of title use when he is addressing the Skywalker.

Anakin smirked for a bit, before answering.

"Christophsis."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! The next chapter will be set on the episode "Cat and Mouse" or at least some parts of it will... depends on the final version XD
> 
> Any form of feedback is once again appreciated! As long as it is constructive in the slightest of course :P


	5. Cat and Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan decides that Garrick should get a taste of his old Padawan's exuberance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! And a lot shorter period of time this occasion xD
> 
> Apparently trying to write in an OC into a preexisting storyline can be quite a cookie. Certainly raised the challenge a bit, but I ended up being pretty happy with what I managed to concoct for this chapter :P
> 
> From this chapter, you'll begin to see some of the changes that I've made to both dialogue from the episodes, and also some of the continuity that would apply to the rest of the fic, moving forward.
> 
> Once again, apologies beforehand if there are any grammar mistakes. I wrote most of this right after I wake up in the morning (including this a/n xD) so some parts will most definitely feel clunky, and some mistakes will definitely pop :P, and as usual, any sort of feedback will always be well-appreciated :D, I'm just happy that there people who are willing to take their time to read this.
> 
> Anywho, ENJOY!

CC-2224 or better known as Clone Marshal Commander Cody has always had a particular form of amusement when it comes to the thought process and the operative ways of the Jedi. Especially when it comes to the one that he has been serving with since the start of the war, namely one Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Being a generation one clone, he’s never one to really complain when it comes to making sure that the General’s strategies are carried out to a tee, and he’d rather revel at the success that those up-to-protocol strategies would usually lead up to.

That being said, nothing could’ve prepared him for the unorthodox methods of the General who was once trained by the same exact general that he’s been used to for the start of the war.

Anakin Skywalker brought upon assaults and strategies that no other General, or even Clone Commanders had ever thought of, all while Cody had to deal with an exasperated Jedi Master who does nothing but worry about his former Padawan’s safety whenever they weren’t able to directly assist him.

_“He’s crazy, but one hell of a General and a good man, Cody…”_

The words of Captain Rex echoed in his mind as he begun to have his thoughts veer to what he is currently dealing with in the present time.

As much as he is a commander of the illustrious 212th Attack Battalion, nothing dreaded him more than having to deal with his General’s current Padawan, Taran Sakiro.

And he wasn’t the only, some of his other brothers had their own fair share of complaints which he had forced himself to constantly hear out, because as much as he is their commander, they are all this brothers.

_“Kid’s crazy Commander! He almost cost me my entire company!”_

_“Medic’s never free cause he’s always demanding for first treatment!”_

_“Skywalker was never anywhere near that horrid of a Commander!”_

With how Skywalker turned out, Cody was, to say the least, somewhat surprised when Obi-Wan had decided to take the highly controversial youngling as a Padawan and still stuck with him even after all the complaints that they had against him in just the first month of war.

“Oi Cody. The General’s looking for you.”

Cody looked towards Blackout, the commander of the new stealth ship that had just been commissioned to his Sky Corps. Cody himself had been tasked in keeping the General in the loop over what needs to be done with the ship and is somewhat interested in finding out the ship’s capability.

Walking towards the general direction of the hangar, he asked, “He’s at the ship?”

“Yep, waiting on your information.”

Cody sighed in preparation. Being under General Kenobi has been nothing short of an honor for the Clone Commander, but he really had to steel himself to be able to deal with another day of listening to his pain of a Padawan.

Blackout had followed suit as they entered the hangar, and while the unique looking ship is quite an interesting sight for anyone to see, Cody had his distracted by someone in the far side of the ship, looking at it with a curious expression.

“Who’s the kid?”

“No clue, came in with the General.”

“Hmm…”

Said General was observing the boy with an amused expression, before Cody made his way to his side.

Not even fully turning himself towards the Commander, Obi-Wan had begun addressing him, “Ah, there you are Cody. To what do we owe the pleasure of this fine vessel?”

Running over the details within his datapad, Cody began listing the ship’s specification.

“Says here that it’s a stealth ship. It’s equipped with cloaking device that’s completely undetected by scanners. Sienar, the manufacturer, had said that this is one of the first models to have been cleared for a field test, so there’s not much to see in terms of preliminary performance reports.”

Obi-Wan eyed the ship rather wearily, obviously discomforted by the fact that it hasn’t really seen any results in a serious situation, “Well Anakin surely wouldn’t let that deter him from flying it anyways…” the Jedi then gestured towards the datapad, “So, I’m assuming that we will be using this to slip hind of the blockade and make our assault from there?”

“Quite the contrary General.” Cody handed the datapad over Obi-Wan, “Our orders are to simply deliver the supplies in it to Senator Organa’s station at the surface. Their resources are dwindling, and the senate is unsure of how much longer he and the men would last down there.”

“Ah, well then…” the General stroke his beard, thinking of the newest information, “I might have to persuade Anakin even further if we are only to deliver supplies, he’d rather blow the blockade then and there.”

“Can’t he though? It’s ridiculously needle-looking, but it seems like it has enough torpedoes to fire down at least one Providence.”

Looking at the source of the voice, Cody was surprised to see the boy that he had seen earlier now standing right beside Obi-Wan, all while keeping his eyes on the datapad that pertains all the information of the ship in question.

“That depends my Padawan.” Obi-Wan gestured towards the ship’s pilot hull, “If the command ship has its deflector shield’s up, which it would most certainly do, then it won’t do any good. And we are certainly not risking sending fighters in just to check an uncertain probability.”

“Huh, good point…”

Lost at the new voice in their discussion, Cody could only spare a glance between the two of them and proceeded to clear his throat, trying to relay his confusion with subtlety, which caught Obi-Wan’s attention to the confusion that he now felt from the Commander. Obi-Wan gave a small smirk before taking a step back and introduced the two to each other.

“I almost forgot. Garrick, I would like to introduce you to Commander Cody.” At the words of his new Master, the Shan turned his body to fully face the Commander before Obi-Wan continued, “He will be your fellow Commanding Officer for your time as my Padawan. Make sure the two of you get along, for there will be many battles ahead for the two of you to tackle.”

Cody saw the boy give a curious glance between the two of them before Obi-Wan began gesturing towards himself.

“And Cody, this is Garrick Shan. My new Padawan.”

Garrick took the introduction as an initiative to salute the Commander, acknowledging that this man will be his guide on the new military shenanigans that he’s about to go through for the following years. He’s heard quite some stories about the 212th and its infamous Marshal Commander, mostly from Aayla herself. Even in such a short time within the war, Aayla had found herself being paired up with Obi-Wan and the 212th a couple of times, which lead to the stories that she had about his highly reputable second-in-command.

“It’s an honor, Commander. Looking forward to obliterating all those droids with ya.”

Even though he had his helmet on, Obi-Wan was able to sense the amused expression that the Commander has at the moment, and he wasn’t at all surprised by the expression due to the fact that the last time Cody and any of his men had to deal with a new Padawan of his, it wasn’t exactly a well-received experience.

But looking at his first few steps, Obi-Wan had the utmost trust that Garrick wouldn’t be anywhere near the horrid individual that the spoiled Sakiro boy had been.

Eventually Cody regained his demeanor, and swiftly returned the salute in kind towards the new Padawan.

“Honor’s mine Commander Shan. Let’s teach those clankers some well-earned lesson.”

Smirking at his comment, Garrick chuckled and let his hand fall back to his side, prompting Cody to do the same.

Satisfied with the introductions, Obi-Wan immediately went back to the business in hand.

“Alright Cody, tell your men to finish up the preparations. Anakin’s fleet should be arriving in Christophsis soon. Let’s not keep him waiting, shall we?”

“Right away General.” Cody replied, and was about to go do his orders before Obi-Wan halted his steps.

“Oh, and you might as well take Garrick with you. He’ll benefit from knowing firsthand how preparations are conducted in these settings.” Sending a brief glance towards his Padawan, who shrugged in compliance. Which was enough of an “Okay” for Obi-Wan to accept, “If you need me, I’ll be at the bridge.”

“Copy that, General.” Nodding to the Jedi, and then turning his attention towards the other, “Right this way, Commander.”

Following the Commander, Garrick gave his Master a quick nod as a he passed by, with a thin smile on his lips, causing Obi-Wan to call out, “I trust that you won’t give Cody any trouble?”

“No promises!” the boy quickly replied, leaving Obi-Wan to shake his head and begin his walk to the bridge.

* * *

Seeing that it was his first time being in a Republic Cruiser, there were plenty of little things that Garrick had noticed just in the instant that he stepped out onto the landing bay after arriving from the shuttle. The general focus that every clone had on completing their tasks, the resolute forms that they take when loading their hardwares, and most significantly, how much of a good-spirited bunch all these clones are.

He’s only been following Cody for some tens of minutes and he had witnessed at least five different hand-wrestling matches, several clones which the Commander had described as “Shinies” walking around and asking about where their weapons are, and many others who had been working on their gunship arts.

Aayla had pretty much told him stories of how all the clones mostly act. But she also emphasized on the fact that they may be genetically engineered from the same man

Despite all that, he couldn’t ignore the ambivalent atmosphere that seemingly lurks around the inches of space between all the haphazard commotion of playfulness and ease.

Namely the weird and somewhat antagonizing stares of some of the clones that he had caught as he passed by their stations. He was sure that he hadn’t been doing anything wrong, or even anything that would remotely bring any sort of irk that they’d have against him, but considering the circumstances, he’d prefer to be sure of the situation and condition that’s enveloping them, before really taking action on it.

Something that he’s been itching to bring up with the Commander.

“So, Commander.” He began addressing the clone, “Looks like your men’s constantly on high spirits huh?”

“You got that right, Commander.” Cody continued walking while gesturing towards the general direction of his battalion. “The 212th is always up for a good old battle. I always make sure that my battalion is in top shape. Can’t have any of them dozing off during battle.”

Garrick couldn’t exactly respond to his statement instantly, since he was distracted by another one of those stares that he’d been trying to tune out in the past few minutes. He didn’t notice however, that his silence hadn’t been missed by the Commander.

“Something wrong Commander?”

Realizing that he’d accidentally given Cody the silent treatment, he froze momentarily before regaining his senses.

“Nothing Cody, just feeling a bit chilly.”

Cody was grateful that he had his helmet on as he released a subtle sigh. The last time an apprentice belonging to Obi-Wan Kenobi had said that he feels a bit “chilly”, his men were then commanded to find the warmest room in the entire cruiser and guide his ass there just so the kid didn’t have to deal with being “chilly”.

Now he’s almost dreading at the notion that this Padawan may also have those traits.

“If you want, Commander, I can take you to the storage bay where we store our mess ingredients.” He had said without noticing the confused look that the Shan has on his face, “That space always has the warmest temperature amongst all the rooms and spaces in the cruiser, I can get my men to-“

“Wait hold up, I’m not feeling cold from the air.” Garrick hastily said, slightly befuddled at the Commander’s suggestion. Once he’s sure that Cody is now paying attention, he continued, “Just don’t really feel welcomed at the moment.”

Taking a look around, Cody was about to question the Padawan’s statement before he decided to take a quick glance at some of the troopers that they’ve been passing. Sure enough, he saw some, not much, but there is definitely quite a sum of his brothers who are giving the boy next to him some… unfriendly stares, to say the least that is.

_Kriff, gotta keep the boys in line. Can’t have them acting like this._

“Ah, about that…” he slowly began saying while still keeping an eye at some of the troopers who were still giving a look, before realizing that they’d been caught and immediately went back to work.

Garrick waited patiently for Cody’s explanation.

“We didn’t exactly have a pleasant experience with the General’s previous Padawan.”

“Ooh…” Garrick had caught on to what the Commander is saying, “So I’ve heard Commander. Only have heard it from Master Kenobi’s perspective though, how did your men take it?”

Not missing the fact that Garrick had used “your” instead of “our”, Cody raised an inquisitive eyebrow inside his helmet.

“ _My_ men, Sir?”

“Yeah Commander, _your_ men.” Garrick paused, looking on towards the other clones in the hangar bay, “They’re not my men yet. My mother had told me that you clones are highly loyal soldiers. So, until I actually do something to gain that loyalty, I’d say I haven’t warranted you and your men’s respect just yet.”

“Your… Mother?”

“Yeah, my mother is Jedi Master Kali Shan. Or you might know her as General Shan?”

“Ah, Commander Fordo of the 414th has had a lot to say about her.” He had recalled a conversation with said Commander just within the last week in Coruscant, “A great General as far as I’ve heard.”

“That so?” Garrick chuckled a bit “Haven’t really seen her in a battlefield before, so I’ll take his and your word for it, Commander.”

_Well I’ll be damned_. Cody had internally cursed himself for making all those judgement without actually having concrete information. That Sakiro boy wouldn’t have acknowledge anything that either he or his men have ever thought about.

_I’m the Padawan here, all of you are made to serve me._ A fresh piece of memory flashed through the words that the boy had said just weeks prior. He can only hope that Garrick would stay the way he has been so far.

“You’ll have to forgive my men, Commander.” Cody sighed exasperatedly, almost as if he’s reliving the brief, but hellish period of time when he’s serving with Taran, “Commander Sakiro was… unstable in all sense of that word. General Kenobi said that he never had any big problems in ten years of teaching as he did with that boy, and I’ve had to pull so many of my men out of his command due to his _Jare_ strategies.”

“ _Jare_?”

“Foolish, stupid, absolute scatterbrain of a strategy.”

“Ah, noted.”

“So as I much as I do not condone such preemptive thinking…” Cody made sure to take his helmet off to further emphasize his point, “I hope you understand that I can’t exactly blame my men for thinking that way.”

Cody can only hope that Garrick would understand his perspective the way his general had, keeping a strong stare at his new Commander.

“Oh, not to worry, Commander.” Garrick shrugged his shoulders in relaxation, “I’m not gonna act like that absolute-“

Before he got to finish his sentence, a panicked shout from one of the troopers had interrupted him.

“Kriff, that box’s falling, Spark!”

The two looked over to see a trooper on the ground while a big crate was about to fall on him, Cody was already prepared to give assistance should any injuries occurred, but he was surprised to see that the now falling box had suddenly stopped falling midair, while the trooper on the ground seemingly braced for an impact that he had thought would come, only to look up to see the presumed fallen crate slowly place itself safely to a clear space.

A slow exhale of a breath brought Cody’s attention to the Jedi Commander next to him, who had his right arm stretched out as if reaching for something, and then slowly opening his eyes after seemingly being immersed in concentration, before quickly making his way to the stunned trooper.

“You good trooper?” Garrick had said while offering a hand to the clone, “That crate could’ve done quite a number on you.”

Grateful for the save, the trooper firmly grasped the offered hand and hoisted himself up, “Thanks for that, Commander.” He dusted off his armor before saluting, “CT-1284, at your service.”

“Commander Shan. Spark was it?” the addressed trooper nodded with vigor, “Gotta be careful with where your standing. Commander Cody had been mentioning that some of these crates have some heavy weight on them, so might not want to be under a pile at all times.”

Just about joining in, Cody managed to chime in, “Errr… right trooper. Keep your wits sharp. Even supplies can be troubling if mishandled.”

“I’ll be careful next time, Sir.” Spark replied to Cody, then turning towards Garrick, “Apologies if I was taking your time, Commander.”

“Not at all, Spark.” Garrick’s reply was met with an amused eyebrow from Cody, not that the Padawan was able to see it, “The Commander here is just showing me around. Besides, I was pretty much free-“

His commlink beeped right then and there.

“Guess I spoke too soon.” Garrick pressed the blinking button, before answering “Garrick here.”

“Garrick. Could you kindly inform the Commander that we are about to leave in ten minutes?” Sparing a look towards said Commander, who nodded and went off to ensure that final preparations are finished, before focusing on the commlink again, “Anakin’s fleet had left a few minutes ago. I’d rather not keep him waiting.”

“He’s already on it Master.”

“Good. Join me in the bridge while we wait for our hyperspace jump, my Padawan.”

“Will do Master, see you in a bit.”

And with that, the commlink ended and Garrick shrugged towards Spark, who’s still awaiting dismissal.

“Duty calls, Spark. I wouldn’t want to keep you from your duties even further. Keep your eyes peeled buddy.”

Spark chorused an enthusiastic “Sir yes Sir!” before saluting and turning to get back to his work.

Garrick chuckled for a short while before turning on his heels and began to make his way towards the bridge.

A hyperspace jump later, the _Negotiator_ had finally arrived at the planet of Christophsis. Garrick immediately noted the Separatist blockade that has been positioned on the planet’s hyperspace entrance, as well as the three Republic cruisers that are now currently engaged in battle, with the one on the left being heavily damaged.

“Looks like General Skywalker’s already engaged the enemy.” Cody shortly remarked.

An exasperated look came across Obi-Wan’s features.

“That’s nothing out of the ordinary, especially since I gave him a direct order not to.”

Unable to resist a chuckle, Obi-Wan gave Garrick a short look of disapproval before having the holo-communicator contact Anakin’s fleet.

The familiar glow of the blue hologram appeared as a distorted shape of Anakin Skywalker’s figure showed up on the table.

“Anakin, I want you to withdraw.”

“Withdraw?”

“Yes, I brought a new toy that might give us an advantage.”

Chuckling at his Master’s odd choice of vocabulary, Garrick inquired, “You call that a toy?”

Obi-Wan smirked at his Padawan’s comment before turning to back towards the holotable and listening in to the conversation sounding out of it. A few words were traded between the young General and his admiral who was trying to convince him to retreat for the time being. But Garrick couldn’t resist to add a little teaser to further coerce the Skywalker.

“It’s got torpedoes and all that, General.”

A few more words from the Admiral, and a sigh was eventually audible from the holo-comm, “Tell the transports to fall back to Obi-Wan's position, we'll cover their retreat as they escape behind the moon.”

The transmission ended right after, Obi-Wan crossed his arms and began his signature beard-stroking, a habit of his Master that Garrick had picked up on, which simply tells him that the Jedi is thinking of a plan.

“Making him retreat is the easy part, now, convincing him to run this mercy mission will be the next obstacle.”

“Really?” Garrick began asking as they both turned to go to the hangar, “Thought you said that he’d be up for the challenge?”

“Flying the ship, yes. I know for a fact that he would not pass up on that.” Obi-Wan paused before looking at him, “But he is not exactly… fond of these kinds of missions.”

There was a slight weight to the end of his sentence, as if signifying some sort of backstory that he has yet earned the right to listen to. But seeing the pensive look on his Master’s usually calm features, he decided that he wouldn’t pry on it. Instead, he opted to lighten the mood, if only just a smidge.

“I would join him for it, if allowed that is.” He saw Obi-Wan react with somewhat of a glint in his eyes, Garrick satisfied with the change, continued his humorous suggestion, “You know, if you want to keep an eye on him or whatever…”

Obi-Wan laughed at the suggestion, a smile creeping at Garrick’s lips as well, before the older Jedi gathered his breath and said lightly, “A good suggestion if ever there is one. You might benefit from having experienced his piloting first-hand. Force, there’s not much for me to teach you in that department regardless. Who knows, you might be more adequate for it than I am.”

“Wait, you’re serious?” Seeing his Master nod, Garrick was perplexed as he thought that being assigned to a Jedi Master meant him being trained solely by said Master. “I thought with you being my Master and all, it would mean that all my training will be solely from your own teachings.” He stopped momentarily, scratching his head in confusion, “You know, like when I was with Master Secura.”

“Ah, I see your point. Seeing as you have been a Padawan before this war.” Obi-Wan began replying, “But that’s not always necessarily the case. I may have been assigned as the Master that oversees your training, but that does not mean that I will be your sole teacher.” Gesturing towards nothing in particular, Obi-Wan emphasized his point, “As a youngling, you learned aspects of becoming a Jedi from a multitude of Masters yes?”

A short nod from the boy, ensured that he was following his explanation and was understanding it.

“It is similar to how it will be as a Padawan; I am the Jedi Master assigned to supervise you, but whenever tasks that are deemed beneficial, at least in my perspective, to your training as a Knight presents itself. Then I have every right to assign you to said assignment, should I see fit.”

Humming in acknowledgement, Obi-Wan concluded his sentences right as they arrive back at the stealth ship.

“Just be sure to be prepared when there are assignments, which I assure you there will be plenty, that do not involve my presence within them.” Obi-Wan seemed to sigh in resignation, “Especially with how fond the council is in pairing my battalion with Anakin’s, mix that with their overt need in constantly sending me in negotiation tasks around the Rim, I’d bet on you being stuck with Anakin more than you are with me, especially in the later parts of your training.”

“Eh, doesn’t sound too bad.” Garrick contemplated on the possibility of that statement, “If keeping him out of trouble counts as training, then I think I’d be up for the challenge.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Obi-Wan had an exasperated look on his face, “Anakin has a tendency to constantly outdo himself every other mission. Never a dull moment when he’s deciding your strategy. Even Master Yoda had always described that Anakin’s exuberance had only been rivalled by my late Master.”

Retracing his memories, Garrick had remembered some tales of the wise Qui-Gon Jinn. He had always thought that his mother is pretty rebellious as a Jedi Master, but Qui-Gon was apparently so far above and beyond that he was often referred to as the “Maverick Jedi”.

Garrick eventually replied with finality.

“Guess I’ll just have to keep my guards up.”

And boy did that test came quickly.

As soon as Anakin had arrived, Obi-Wan had to keep him in a spiel of convincing the young Jedi Knight to complete this highly important mercy mission, which the Skywalker looks to have such a hard time still being the “delivery boy” as he had coined when arguing about it. Eventually, after stressing the importance of the lives of the people on the ground multiple times, Anakin finally relented.

“Fine. But you better not fall behind. Wouldn’t want to spend too much time just unloading supplies down there.”

“Noted.” Obi-Wan then remembered the initial plan he had discussed with Garrick, “Oh, and I’m allowing to take him with you. I sense that he can see your… “methods” first-hand and take it for what it is with his own judgement.”

“That so?” Anakin replied, a smirk now visible, “Welcome aboard kid. Obi-Wan might be your Master, but I’ll teach you everything you need to know when it comes to annoying this old man right here.”

Soft laughter went out of the Padawan, eventually joined by Anakin himself. Obi-Wan simply spared a glance between the two of them and clutched his forehead.

“I’m already regretting this.”

The older Jedi was spared from more laughter as his commlink beeped, which Obi-Wan recognizes to be Cody’s channel. “Yes Cody?”

“General, Admiral Yularen had requested for Skywalker’s departure to be delayed for a few minutes, he has some intel regarding the blockade.”

“Very well then Cody, tell the Admiral that General Skywalker will be waiting in the ship.”

“Copy that, General.”

As the transmission ended, Obi-Wan looked at the other two, “I should get going, the Council would want an update on the situation. I trust that I can leave you two be?”

“Don’t you worry Master.” Anakin placed a hand Garrick’s shoulder, “I’ll make sure that you’ll meet your Padawan on the surface in one piece.”

Obi-Wan almost grimaced at his promise, “Very reassuring Anakin.”

Watching him leave the hangar, Anakin then waved to the ship and beckons Garrick to come along.

“Alright kid. Let’s wait up and see what kind of intel the Admiral has in store for us.

A few minutes later, the Admiral had come into the ship looking rather distraught, and with good reason, nonetheless.

Reality then began to really hit Garrick as he realized that this is basically the first mission that he’d be a part of. And with any consideration, it would quite memorable if he were to be in a ship that is about to try and bypass Admiral Trench’s fleet, that is notorious to have almost left no survivors in any of the encounter that he had with the Republic, before his assumed demise in the battle of Malastare Narrows.

But with the Admiral now within the ranks of the people in the ship, he can breathe a little bit more freely knowing that at least there’s someone with a bit of experience in dealing with Trench that can possibly guide them.

“Sir, all the supplies have been loaded and the ship’s ready to take flight.”

“Nice work Blackout, we’ll be taking off in a minute.” Anakin had replied, but before Blackout could go back to his station, Anakin had stopped him, “Oh yeah Commander. I’d like to introduce you to Commander Shan. He’s General Kenobi’s new Padawan learner. Just in case you two ever work together in the future.”

Garrick nodded in response, greeting the Commander, “Commander Blackout, pleasure to be working with you.”

Blackout gave a short salute, “Pleasure’s all mine, Commander. I’ve heard a few words about you from Cody, and if you’re nowhere near the likes of that Sakiro brat, then we should have no problems at all.”

Not even giving ample time for Garrick to react, Blackout had turned back to see another trooper coming into the ship, who just about put his helmet on before saluting the Commander.

“CT-1284, Spark, reporting for duty Sir!”

Not wasting any time, Blackout went straight to business, "We lost one of our stating-lineup, kid. You ready to set up and take his place?"

"Yes Sir, just show me my station."

Recognizing the name, Garrick immediately greeted the newcomer. “Hey Spark. Didn’t have any other crate fall on you I presume?”

Spark’s head perked up at the sound of the Commander that saved his head just a few hours ago, “Commander Shan! I can assure you that no crates will be falling on this bucket anytime soon.”

“Good to hear. Let’s deliver those supplies to your brothers yeah?’

“You got it Commander.”

“Alright kid,” Blackout suppressed what sounded like a chuckle, “Let’s get you to your station.”

The two Jedis watched as the two clones march on to their stations. Garrick didn’t even realize Anakin’s eyes on him before the young man spoke out.

“Good to see that Obi-Wan finally came to his senses and chose another Padawan.” Anakin gestured to the co-pilot seat as they settle down in preparation for take-off, “The last three weeks had been unbearable with that kid.”

This peaked Garrick’s curiosity. He had known that the spoiled son of the Republic’s biggest political partner had been a major pain in _his_ ass, but he’s curious on just how far did the guy actually managed to piss off the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic itself.

“Just how bad was he? Like, I know Taran is a massive pain, but I’d never really expected him to actually piss of an entire army just from a month of serving with them.”

“Believe me kid, you wouldn’t want to know.” There was a brief flash of something that sparked past Anakin’s eyes that Garrick had noticed, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, “I’m just relieved that he eventually got you. I’d say I felt sorry for him when he was assigned to that kid, but your mother had probably told you about the laugh I had at the time.” Anakin smiled at the nod that the boy replied with, before continuing, “With all that I’ve been hearing, I was a bit surprised that you weren’t already chosen by someone else before Master Secura.”

“All you’ve been hearing huh?” Garrick had a mischievous smile lacing his lips, before nudging him, “Worried that I might steal your spotlight in the gossip mill?”

Anakin laughed at his statement, “By all means it is yours for the taking. I’ve been reigning champ for about what now, two years? It’s about time someone took over.”

“Show off.”

“General, Commander, if I may interrupt…” the voice of the Admiral flows through right from behind Anakin, “We’ve been cleared for departure.”

“Alright then, Admiral.” Anakin looked towards the general direction of the crew, “We are good to go, boys.”

“Copy that Sir.” Blackout had sounded out.

As the ship leaves the safety of the hangar bay, it slowly cloaks itself into an invisible vessel and began slowly passing through the Separatist Munificent frigates, tension was high as they work to see on whether or not the ship’s cloaking device is actually working, before Spark suddenly called out from behind.

“General, I’m detecting a large wave of bombers being dispatched from our hind.”

“That’s weird…” Anakin rechecked the scanners, which showed no indication of anything locking onto them, while also displaying the now detected bombers that are now behind them, “Nothing is locking onto us as far as the scanners show.”

With Spark constantly calling out the ever-closing distance that the bombers are in, they all held their breaths as for a split second when they thought the bombers were about to hit them, before suddenly flying past them and heading towards the planet.

All the other members of the crew exhaled a breath that they hadn’t known to have held, but Garrick realized that Anakin didn’t share the same expression. If anything, he had looked a lot more worried.

“Something wrong?”

Anakin’s brows furrowed even closer for a split second, before he seemingly realized something, “They weren’t meant for us. They’re heading towards Bail Organa’s command center!”

Not even five minutes later, Obi-Wan’s hologram had appeared in their communicator, looking visibly worried.

“Anakin, I’ve just spoken with the Senator, and he’s in dire need of help. Continue with your mission.” Obi-Wan sighed with a look of uncertainty, “I will engage Trench’s fleet with what I already have.”

“You serious Master?” Garrick had seen the state of the ships that they had, and not to mention that only the _Negotiator_ is currently anywhere near equipped to pose a threat to the enemy fleet. “Our ships didn’t look too good earlier. And the number of bombers they’ve just deployed doesn’t make it look too convincing for us to do anything.”

“I agree with the Commander, General.” Admiral Yularen had interjected, “We certainly do not have the resources to facilitate a viable defense without taking out the command ship.”

“It’s not going to work Obi-Wan.” This time, Anakin had cut in, “The only way we can do anything remotely useful is to use this ship’s capability and use the torpedoes to blindside him.”

“Under no circumstances are you doing that Anakin. The ship itself is on its first test run, and I do not want to risk anymore time lost. I’ll deal with Trench, you- “

“Not gonna work Obi-Wan.” Anakin didn’t let Obi-Wan finish and turned his attention to the Admiral, “Admiral, get those torpedoes primed and ready. Obi-Wan you hold off your assault.”

“Anakin, I want those supplies on the ground, now!”

“I’ll do that too, don’t worry.”

“Anakin-“

Anakin shut off the holocomm without further preamble and went back to prepping the ship for combat. Garrick couldn’t help but be slightly astounded by how quick the young General had made up his mind. That and paired with the fact that he’d just cut off his own Master without much of a consequence.

“You do that a lot?” Garrick had inquired, prompting the General to look up from his panel.

“Do what a lot?”

“Just like… ignore him?”

Anakin chuckled at the remark, before grinning, “Remember when I told you that I’m going to teach you all the methods of annoying him?”

“I can recall yeah.” Garrick shortly replied.

“Then that was lesson number one.”

Anakin puts up a finger to emphasize his point.

“Never let Obi-Wan finish his holo-transmissions.”

Shortly after, their first attempt in blasting the Trench’s command ship went all for naught as the thermo-shields of the ships were way too powerful to be penetrated by torpedoes from what is a non-combatant ship.

And now, Anakin is in the middle of trying to escape the rain of blaster fires that the ship had decided to unleash on them.

Leaving Garrick anxiously clutching the side of his seats in preparation for doom.

“All those “best pilot in the galaxy” bantha shit better be true, because I’d like to think that I’d last more than one mission as Master Kenobi’s Padawan.”

“Keep that attitude and I might consider throwing us in to the middle of the barrage.”

Which prompted Garrick to raise both his hands up in a form of surrender and let the Skywalker deal with avoiding all the laser fire.

After what seemed to be forever, the blaster barrage eventually subsided, and a massive sigh of relief was heard throughout the ship. Anakin took his hands off of the control wheel and looked back towards the crew.

“What? Have a little bit more faith in my flying, will you?”

A series of groans sounded out from everyone, with the Admiral clearing his throat.

“We could do with a bit of a warning next time, General.”

“Now where’s the fun in that Admiral?”

Garrick gave a pointed stare at the young Jedi, “If this is how Master Kenobi wants me to fly, then there’d better be something good for me in the end of all this.”

“If you were old enough, I’d have the clones take you for a drink.” Anakin suggested with a playful mirth to his tone.

“I’m sixteen.” Garrick replied with levity, “I _am_ old enough.”

“That so?” Anakin received a nod from the Shan, confirming his statement, “Then I’d have Rex and the boys bring you out to 79’s when the time allows it.”

A flash of confusion rose to Garrick’s face, “Rex? Who’s that?”

“Captain Rex, my second-in-command.” Anakin replied with a smile, “You’re going to be dealing with my battalion a lot since you are a Commander in the 212th. I can assure you that the 501st will forever be the better battalion.”

“Uhuh, sure.” Garrick finally relaxed back to his seat, now with the ship no longer in the risk of being pulverized, “Until I get my first battle experience, then I can’t make any conclusions.”

Anakin managed a chuckle before Spark spoke up from the back.

“General, there's a transmission on the open frequency, it's the enemy.”

All the playfulness in Anakin’s expression instantly vanished as he said, “Put it through.” Only to have said expression show up again as he couldn’t resist to comment when a hologram of who seems to be Admiral Trench pop up in their holocomm.

“Hello, ugly…”

“That’s putting it kindly…” Garrick chirped in. Had he not known any better, he would’ve thought that the Harch was someone playing a costumed prank on them. “He ought to trim that fuzzy ball-head of his.”

Before Anakin could react, Trench’s voice had begun transmitting through.

“I am Admiral Trench.” A series of clicking followed through his sentences. “If you are listening, Jedi, you've made a bold move and a grave mistake.”

The whole crew began listening with more intensity than they had before. Before Trench continued.

“I appreciate your decision to face me, ship to ship, to play this little game. It's been so long since I had a worthy opponent. You have an impressive new vessel, but I warn you, I have dealt with its kind before.”

Garrick noticed that Admiral Yularen had held back a flinch, evidently having memories flash through his eyes of the destruction that Trench had managed to leave behind.

The transmission continued, “Your technology will not save you. And your friends on the planet below shall perish as a result of your failure. The people of Christophsis and her resources shall join the Separatist Alliance. Turn back now, retreat while you can, for I am your doom.”

And with that the transmission ended, leaving a confused Garrick, a troubled Admiral, and a curious Anakin.

“He said that he’s dealt with this kind of ship before…” the Admiral restated.

“Question is,” Garrick had begun asking, before Anakin finished it for him, “How?”

The Admiral then looked back to the ship’s control station, “Commander, contact the _Negotiator_ , tell them that we might think that Trench has a particular method of dealing with cloaked ship, and we require information on those records.”

“On it, Admiral.”

And not ten minutes later, Obi-Wan’s figure had returned to the holocomm.

“You were right, Admiral, there are records of Trench's battles and a few against ships with cloaking devices.”

Sensing Obi-Wan’s uncertainty, Anakin asked, “And?”

Obi-Wan replied with a contemplative gaze, “It seems, in each case, he used tracking torpedoes to hit the ship somehow, whether it was cloaked or not.”

“Then he knows a way of detecting us.” The Admiral had remarked.

Pondering on his statement, Anakin thought about the possibility of his old Master’s information, “Tracking torpedoes? Hmm…”

Garrick was then curious on Trench’s previous battles, “What class ship was he fighting?”

“Mostly cruiser to cruiser, nothing as small as the ship you are in, Garrick.”

“Well,” Anakin had begun commenting, “No ship this small usually has a cloaking device.”

“Maybe there’s something he can trace that a cloaking device wouldn’t cover?” Garrick began suggesting, albeit knowing next to nothing on how a ship works, “Not that I’d have any clue about that…”

His suggestion however, seemed to spark something in Anakin’s thoughts.

“Maybe…” Anakin had said, deep in thought, “He's tracking the magnetic signature...” he then spared a quick glance towards Garrick, “Yeah I see what you’re getting at kid. Thanks Obi-Wan. Hold off your attack until we destroy Trench.”

Garrick can practically feel the exasperation radiating off of his Master’s figure.

“Garrick, do you mind reminding Anakin that this was not your mission?”

Exchanging a quick look with Anakin, Garrick suddenly felt a mischievous pull towards the holocomm communicator end button.

“Guess it is our mission now Master.” He gave a quick shrug, before abruptly ending the transmission. Feeling rather pleased with the action.

“Huh, it does feel oddly satisfying to do that…”

Anakin chuckled at his comment, “Right? You’ll get that the hang of it soon enough. Now come on, we have a ship to blow up.”

* * *

Barely tens of minutes later, the crew’s already whopping in a celebratory fashion as Anakin had managed to steer Trench’s own torpedoes right up to his bridge. Blowing the Providence-class ship to smithereens, and successfully throwing the blockade into disarray.

“I hate to admit it,” Obi-Wan had begun saying through the transmission, “But good job Anakin. We will begin our attack on the Separatist fleet.”

Unable to resist a smirk, Anakin replied, “Have fun. I’ll be delivering the supplies to the surface, Master.”

“Garrick,” the Padawan perked up from watching the explosion behind them and turned his attention his Master, “Please make sure that Anakin doesn’t get into more trouble. I recognize that it is only a short while before you arrive, but I’ve learned to just expect anything.”

“You got it, Master. I’ll try to get him into more trouble.” Garrick replied with a joking smile.

“Do try again, my Padawan.”

“I’ll try to keep him out of trouble, Master.”

“Better.”

And with that the transmission ended for a final time, leaving for the rest of the crew to deliver the supplies down to the surface.

As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by a grateful Senator Organa, who began unloading the supplies alongside the clones that had been stationed with him. Seeing that their work had paid off, Anakin turned towards Garrick and the Admiral.

“Well, looks like the three of us make a pretty good team.”

“I must admit, I am a bit surprised at the reckless nature of your tactics,” the Admiral had replied evenly, before letting a small smile crack through, “though I cannot argue with their results.”

Anakin gave a wry laugh out, “Well, you'll find I like to do things, uh, differently from time to time.”

“Indeed, the Chancellor mentioned as much,” the Admiral stated with reproach, “though he insisted it was the highest compliment.”

Finishing off his sentence, the Admiral then walked off to further check things with Senator Organa, leaving Anakin and Garrick to their own devices.

“You do realize,” Garrick began commenting, looking at the young General, “That he basically just called you crazy?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, of course.” Anakin then waved it off with a smirk, as if taking pride in that statement being made about him, “I get that a lot, kid. When you get to my age, you’ll start hearing about it from many people.”

It was also then did Garrick also remembered that the General himself isn’t too far up on the age scale, “Wait, aren’t you like, twenty?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re only, and barely, four years older than me.” Garrick said with a mock-offended tone, “You’re not old enough to call me a kid. So, stop calling me that.”

Anakin gave a slight hum in contemplation, before replying with confidence.

“Nah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan now practically has two sons. All part of the plan xD
> 
> Dang and I just realized that I'd written over double of the amount of words that I usually aim for in this fic.
> 
> I'll see you all when I see you :D

**Author's Note:**

> Any kind of feedback is very much appreciated! Thanks for reading through the entire chapter :D


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